Pyramid plan for Mell Square

MELL Square’s chess board could be replaced by a mosaic with a six foot pyramid at the centre under council plans.

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council wants to spend £11,000 on the scheme, which would need approval from its planning committee and then be completed by June.

It says the chess board looks ‘tired’ and the new plan would ‘look stunning and add interest, colour, movement and texture to Mell Square’.

Click the headline or link below to read.

Its application adds: “It will also highlight environment/biodiversity awareness and be a constant reminder that there is a excellent community atmosphere within the borough.”

Patterns on the four sides of the pyramid – to be bolted to a concrete plinth - would reflect the seasons, ‘spring and air’, ‘summer and fire’, ‘autumn and earth’ and ‘winter and water’.

They would be made from ‘iridescent, translucent and textured mosaic materials’ and were due to be made at a weekend event in the square to launch Solihull’s Britain in Bloom bid.

It says: “Designs could be semi-abstract in style, concentrating on dynamic pattern rather than figurative imagery.

“Flowing water, spirals of air, leaf silhouettes and crystalline forms would convey the subject in a visually engaging and contemporary style.”

‘Ornamental grasses’ will surround the pyramid, which would have a diameter of four foot.

Derbyshire based Zantium Studios would get a share of the cash, including £370-a-day workshops with school children. It will be paid a total £6,820.

A workshop was due to be held in the square on Saturday to make the pyramid sides.



The moves comes after the authority passed £12.4m of spending cuts including a reduction in opening hours at libraries, raised council tax by 2.25 per cent and prices including burials.

It passed a motion last month opposing free care plans that included the warning: “Local government finance is under severe pressure.”

To view the application, where you can leave a comment, click here and enter 2010 and 354 in the two boxes.

What do you think? Leave your comments below. No registration required.

Click here to get stories by email.